The effects of an anti-bullying intervention programme on peers' attitudes and behaviour.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of an anti-bullying intervention programme on peers' attitudes towards bullying and their attempts to solve bully/victim conflicts. An experimental pre-test/post-test design with a control group was used. For secondary school students, positive outcomes were observed at post-test 1 on attitudes and on actual rates of intervention. However, the effects had disappeared at post-test 2. For primary school students, significant differences were found at post-test 2, showing a smaller decline in seeking teacher's help and in heightening students' support for victims. Students' competence to solve bully/victim problems in relation to their general pro-social development is discussed.

[1]  M. Boulton,et al.  The Effects of a Short Video Intervention on Secondary School Pupils' Involvement in Definitions of and Attitudes towards Bullying , 1996 .

[2]  Kenneth H. Rubin,et al.  The development and treatment of childhood aggression. , 1991 .

[3]  Kevin Durkin,et al.  Developmental Social Psychology: From Infancy to Old Age , 1995 .

[4]  David Thompson,et al.  Why Do Children Bully? An Evaluation of the Long-Term Effectiveness of a Whole-school Policy to Minimize Bullying , 1991 .

[5]  G. S. Pettit,et al.  Peer status and aggression in boys' groups: developmental and contextual analyses. , 1990, Child development.

[6]  N Clark,et al.  Evaluation of health promotion and education programs. , 1984 .

[7]  K. Dodge,et al.  The emergence of chronic peer victimization in boys' play groups. , 1993, Child development.

[8]  M. Boulton,et al.  Bully/victim problems among middle school children. , 1992, The British journal of educational psychology.

[9]  P. Wilson Principles and practice of relapse prevention , 1992 .

[10]  T. Robinson,et al.  Advances and future directions for school-based health promotion research: commentary on the CATCH intervention Trial. , 1996, Preventive medicine.

[11]  R. Weissberg,et al.  Promoting competent young people in competence-enhancing environments: a systems-based perspective on primary prevention. , 1991, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[12]  V. Quinsey,et al.  Aggression and Violence Throughout the Life Span , 1992 .

[13]  Peter K. Smith,et al.  School Bullying: Insights and Perspectives , 1994 .

[14]  R. Felner,et al.  Primary prevention programs in the educational context: A transactional-ecological framework and analysis. , 1989 .

[15]  F. Alsaker,et al.  Problems and methods in longitudinal research: Assessing change in a cohort-longitudinal study with hierarchical data , 1991 .

[16]  Ken Rigby,et al.  The relationship of Eysenck's personality factors and self-esteem to bully-victim behaviour in Australian schoolboys , 1993 .

[17]  A. Kazdin Adolescent mental health: Prevention and treatment programs. , 1993 .

[18]  N. Frude,et al.  Disruptive behaviour in schools , 1984 .

[19]  K Rigby,et al.  Bullying among Australian school children: reported behavior and attitudes toward victims. , 1991, The Journal of social psychology.

[20]  D. Olweus Bully/victim problems among schoolchildren: Basic facts and effects of a school based intervention program. , 1991 .

[21]  G. Albee,et al.  Improving Children′s Lives: Global Perspectives on Prevention , 1992 .

[22]  M. Boulton,et al.  Bully/victim problems in middle-school children: Stability, self-perceived competence, peer perceptions and peer acceptance , 1994 .

[23]  B. Törestad Problems and methods in longitudinal research : stability and change , 1991 .

[24]  D. Pepler,et al.  Observations of aggressive and nonaggressive children on the school playground. , 1998 .

[25]  D. Olweus Aggression in the schools : bullies and whipping boys , 1978 .

[26]  Brian Everitt,et al.  Making Sense of Statistics in Psychology: A Second-Level Course , 1996 .

[27]  Simon Murphy,et al.  Psychology and Health Promotion , 1997 .

[28]  K. Dodge,et al.  A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children's social adjustment. , 1994 .

[29]  D. Olweus Bullying at school: basic facts and effects of a school based intervention program. , 1994, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[30]  Peter K. Smith,et al.  A Survey of the Nature and Extent of Bullying in Junior/Middle and Secondary Schools. , 1993 .

[31]  D. Pepler,et al.  An Evaluation of An Anti-Bullying Intervention in Toronto Schools , 1994 .

[32]  K. Rigby,et al.  Dimensions of interpersonal relation among Australian children and implications for psychological well-being. , 1993, The Journal of social psychology.

[33]  G. Haselager Classmates: studies on the development of their relationships and personality in middle childhood , 1997 .

[34]  K. Dodge,et al.  The structure and function of reactive and proactive aggression. , 1991 .

[35]  D. Streiner,et al.  Health Measurement Scales: A practical guide to thier development and use , 1989 .